Youth will be served at Gulfstream

The Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park has been around for nearly 70 years, its inaugural edition having been run in 1945. However, it gained added significance in the 1950s when it was won by horses such as Gen. Duke and Tim Tam.

Those colts had something in common, Calumet Farm’s foundation sire Bull Lea. Gen. Duke was a son of Bull Lea, Tim Tam a grandson. Bull Lea may be better known to some as the father of 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation.

The Fountain of Youth is generally considered a prep race for 3-year-olds pointing toward the Florida Derby, and eventually, the Kentucky Derby. It has had some success in that regard, being capturing by the brilliant Spectacular Bid (1979) and two more Kentucky Derby winners — Thunder Gulch (1995) and Orb (2013).

The trainer of Orb, Hall of Fame member Shug McGaughey, is back with another promising young Thoroughbred, TOP BILLING. The latter is coming off an impressive allowance victory at Gulfstream four weeks ago. Prior to that Top Billing was narrowly-beaten by COMMISSIONER, another of today’s expected participants. However, they are not the only legitimate contenders among the thirteen entrants.

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COMMISSIONER was the rare Todd Pletcher-trained juvenile that began its career going a mile. He is a son of legendary sire A.P. Indy, and a half-brother to a trio of route winners, offering an explanation for the distance.

After dropping far off the pace in his debut and finishing a distant second, Commissioner broke his maiden at Saratoga just 17 days later. The quick return suggests the first start was expected to be a tightener.

The colt had been laid off for more than four months when he made it back to the races Jan. 3. Pletcher points his good horses for Gulfstream and layoffs are seldom a problem. In this case, Commissioner also benefited from a snooze-button pace. He was given a perfect pocket trip behind 49.03 and 1:13.81 interior fractions.

After turning for home and looking for room, his jockey steered Commissioner for a gap in mid-stretch. As he came through the colt traded bumps with a rallying Top Billing. His forward position and inside trip proved key as Commissioner won by a neck.

Pletcher has given the colt weekly breezing works since and reaches out for longtime stable jockey John Velazquez. Post one has not been an advantage at today’s one and one-sixteenth mile distance, at least so far. From 34 races at this meet, only two winners have left from the one hole. However, only posts two (12 winners) and three (six winners) have any real statistical advantage so far this season.

TOP BILLING didn’t make his first start until Dec. 6 of last year. McGaughey opted to send the son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin to Laurel Park. The colt outclassed his seven rivals in the six furlong event. This came despite an astonishingly slow second quarter of 25 seconds flat. He was still eleven lengths behind the leader at that point.

A visual review of the Jan. 3 race suggests Top Billing was better than Commissioner that afternoon even though the latter crossed the wire first. He raced wide and tried to rally between horses in deep stretch while sandwiched between Commissioner and another rival.

There was no doubt about the outcome when Top Billing last raced, Jan. 25. He dropped to last and remained there for the first half of the contest, run at today’s distance. When asked to move by Joel Rosario, Top Billing circled the field while four-wide and cruised by like a good thing. His third-quarter fraction was a sparkling 23.18 seconds.

Top Billing has A.p. Indy on the dam side. His mother, Parade Queen, was a turf router, but her previous foals have been best sprinting on dirt. Curlin was a classic distance horse. In a five month period in 2007 he won the Preakness, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Breeders’ Cup Classic, and Dubai World Cup.

Top Billing is one of the few closing horses to have won at Gulfstream this year going a mile and one-sixteenth. This field is much tougher. He looks very strong on paper if the pace is to his liking.

The two colts most likely to contend with the favorites are WE MISS ARTIE and GENERAL A ROD. Both are in the hands of top trainers and riders.

We Miss Artie is a stablemate of Commissioner. However, they will not be coupled in the wagering because of different ownership. The colt is a Grade 1 winner at today’s distance, albeit on the synthetic Polytrack at Keeneland.

A son of Artie Schiller, out of turf-winning mare, We Miss Artie was ambitiously-spotted in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on dirt. He didn’t run badly. He showed good tactical speed and saved ground after stumbling out of the starting gate. Artie was taken off the inside going into the final turn and made a menacing three-wide move before flattening out in mid-stretch. He’s coming off a narrow loss in a turf stake and has a license to run well here from post two.

General a Rod has never raced around two-turns. However, his jockey, 2013 Eclipse winner Javier Castellano, takes off We Miss Artie to ride this grandson of 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus.

Castellano has ridden 19 winning mounts at this meet for trainer Mike Maker. Maker has been hot as well, scoring with a third of his starters. This colt’s tactical speed and good post position (five) suggests he could get the best trip of any of the contenders.

The winner of this race should earn enough qualifying points to assure himself a starting spot in the Kentucky Derby. Nevertheless, this remains a prep race. The biggest prize will be on the first Saturday in May.